A Small Travel Back In Time

Okay, let's go back just a bit, shall we? Remember I said I had a ton of blogging to catch up on? Well, Mr. Tick seemed to get me back in the mood and after telling him off, I'm ready to go full steam ahead with everything else.

We are members at the Greencastle Sportmans Club and every year the Junior Sportmans have a camp out in June. They also have a catfish bazaar in June but Ty wasn't home for that, so even though the boys went fishing with my dad and Sage won $10 for catching the smallest catfish, I have no stories to tell of that nor do I have any pictures to show you.

Ty did make it home on Father's Day however, allowing him to attend the camp out the following weekend. What an awesome surprise that was for the boys! Now, let me first start by saying, and most of you already know this but for those of you who don't -- I HATE CAMPING. There is nothing about it that interests me in the least. I was recently asked by someone and I won't mention any names (ahem - Susie) why I didn't like to camp when I loved to hunt? It didn't seem to make any sense I guess.

So for those of you who suffer from the same delusion, the answer is simple. I have no desire to sleep outside and pretend I'm homeless for any amount of time with anyone anywhere at anytime. Period. Hunting is WAY different. I love being outdoors. I love doing different things outside but that doesn't mean I need to sleep there. Ever. That is the natural habitat for all creatures with six legs or more and if you don't understand my infinite disgust for them, please refer yourself to the previous post on my blog and it should clear up any misconceptions you have about me and bugs.

Aside from bugs, fish freak me out. I have no desire to catch them. I have no desire to sit for hours and wait to catch something that will cause my gag reflex to kick in the second I see it. No thanks. I'll come hang out with you, have fun with you, eat with you all day long if you wish, but then I'm going home to my bed in the air conditioning with my hot shower and my fan running all night long. And if it is your heart's desire for me to come back in the morning, I will, but you cannot have me overnight.

I did go camping on the beach in Delaware last summer with Ty and the kids. Although I didn't mind it completely, I have no desire to do that again either. No sleep + 100 degree heat + 4 kids = 1 very hateful Lori. Very simple equation there. It is impossible to sleep when you camp and it's impossible to be quiet when you camp. I'm ashamed to even admit the homicidal thoughts that danced through my head during the wee morning hours while I lay awake listening to the people directly beside us who apparently could run on adrenaline all week long. And public showers? Well, we won't even get into that. Besides, I've gotten completely sidetracked trying to explain myself but I do hope I've made it poignantly clear how much I loathe camping.

So each year Ty heads out with the boys, and hopefully soon with the girls as well, to the camp out. It is there that they set up the tents with the rest of the clan, who include but are not limited to, my brother, his fiance and their four kids, my dad, stepmom and sister, Scott, his wife, their three kids and any kids they are fostering at the time. As you can see in the following picture, my dad has a pop-up camper where him, Missy and Brittnay sleep. Faith, my brother's fiance, is also in the picture. Below is an example of the camping condominiums. Dining is provided near the pit.









Sage proudly holding his sunfish.What I want you to notice are his glasses, aren't they awesome? They are his new ones, err, they were his new ones. He had them for seven days before they went to the camp out. Then Sage, Drey and Tyler decided to get up and go fishing at 5 a.m. before anyone else was awake. Sage remembered his glasses only because Tyler handed them to him before they climbed out of the tent. Most people put their glasses directly onto their face when they wake up so they can see. Apparently Sage doesn't. All we know is Sage carried them up the embankment to the lake and sat them down on the bench before sitting himself down to get his pole ready. No one knows what happened to them after that. Almost everyone from their campsite combed the ground looking for Sage's glasses and when they were nowhere to be found we came to the realization that they were probably knocked into the lake, never to be seen again.

Now, had we had insurance and the glasses had been paid for by the insurance company, I might not have been so upset that he lost them. However, we didn't have vision insurance so those cool glasses cost us full price only to be lost to the depths of a green mucky fish-filled lake seven days later. The funny part is, the year before he got his first pair of glasses for free because our vision insurance at the time covered them. Guess what? He still has those. I think it is safe to say that there is probably a bass or catfish at the bottom of the lake seeing pretty good about right now. I also think it is pretty safe to say that Sage is going to be more careful with his glasses from now on since we had to order him a brand new pair and pay for them in full once again.

This is Ty proudly displaying one of the blue gills he caught.

Drey is showing off the snapping turtle that he caught. I love turtles. If I knew I would catch just turtles for my own amusement, I might actually go fishing with them. Mr. Turtle was safely put back into the lake, no snapping turtle soup for us.
Drey hanging onto his blue gill with a big cheesy grin on his face.
The following picture on the left is Scott and his boy holding a big catfish. The one on the right is Scott's wife, Tanya, holding a clam. Yep, that's right, a clam. I've never seen that before in my entire life back at the lake, I didn't even know it was possible because I'm pretty sure they don't stock the lake with any clams, but I could be wrong. It is a possibility. No need to go anywhere else though I guess, just head to Greencastle if you want some fresh water clams. :)











For some reason Sage likes to get his pole caught up with someone else's line. It's almost inevitable for Sage to not get mixed up with someone else's pole or line when out fishing. But that's my Sage. :)
This is at the rifle range where Dad and Chip are watching Tyler get his .22 ready to shoot.
Drey is aiming his .22 at the target. He did manage to come in Second Place!!
Sage *squinting* at the target with his .22 trying to get a good aim. Sure would be nice to have those handy glasses on your face now, wouldn't it, Sage? :)
And last but not least is Brittnay, and I say it that way because she won First Place in the .22 competition!!
Brittnay proudly holding her trophy, although I might add in here she was not happy with Ty wanting a picture of her right after waking up. No normal person would. *LOL*

And yeah... she's 12. {{GASP}} I know, I know. She's only 12?! Yep. It should be against the law to look that hot at 12 if I do say so myself. But give a girl a break, wouldja? She can't help it, she gets it honest - the marksmanship and the hotness. What do you expect? After all, I was that hot when I was 12.

What? What's so funny?

~~No animals were harmed in the process of writing this blog.~~